


The Problem with Dragon-Seekers

by zarabithia



Series: Twilight Universe [2]
Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Kid Fic, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-06-04
Updated: 2007-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-20 18:15:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14899524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: Domesticity catches up with Clark and collides with life as a superhero.  Vaguely takes place in the universe of "Twilight Spill." Possible spoilers for JSA  #6.





	The Problem with Dragon-Seekers

_"The first thing to remember about fathers is, they're men._  
A girl has to keep it in mind.  
They are dragon-seekers, bent on impossible rescues.  
Scratch any father, you find  
Someone chock-full of qualms and romantic terrors,  
Believing change is a threat -" First Lesson, Phyllis McGinley  
  
When the call from Bruce came, Diana had just finished complimenting her middle daughter on adequately finishing her history lesson. Bruce was necessarily brief, his tone clipped with the experience of a man who had spent a full day in the middle of an argument between an Amazon and a Kryptonian. His blame was also brief, but fairly spread between his mate and his stepdaughter.  
  
Diana thanked him, hung up the phone, and turned to a child who would no doubt be following Lara’s path in a few short years. "Martha, I have to go deal with your sister. Keep an eye Hippolyta for me."  
  
"Mother, she is impossible."  
  
Diana privately agreed, inappropriate as that was for a mother to think such a thing of her daughter. "She isn’t doing as well in her Amazon studies as you are. Perhaps you can help her with those."  
  
"Fine," Martha sighed, wincing up the stairs at something only her father’s hearing allowed her to hear. "Come home safe."  
  
Wonder Woman chuckled softly at her daughter’s use of the farewell reserved for battle, as she left Boston and headed for Metropolis.  
  
She found the father of her daughters in the park, staring up at the Superboy statue.  
  
"This day was inevitable," Diana said by way of greeting. "You, Bruce, and I discussed the possibilities of our children following in our footsteps."  
  
"Why did you choose me as their father?" Clark asked, ignoring her point, his voice as full of pain as the day Kansas had been lost. "I’ve never been a good father. _Lex_ was a better father to Kon than I was. If Kon were still here, he’d tell you that."  
  
"Perhaps," Diana replied neutrally, knowing that Kon was the one mistake her husband would never forgive himself for making. She couldn’t change that; she could only hope she could make certain Clark didn’t similarly blame himself for the relationships with _their_ children. "And if he had lived, Lara might have taken refuge in his and Flamebird’s home, instead of Nightwing and Red Arrow’s right now."  
  
"I’m surprised she didn’t. Tim knows as much as anyone what a failure at fatherhood I am."  
  
"Kon is not here," Diana said simply. "He died saving the world. It is possible that the same fate will fall upon Lara."  
  
Clark flew upwards, and caressed the S on Superboy’s chest. "How can you speak of it so calmly?"  
  
Diana flew to his side. "Because the same fate might fall upon one of us. And if Lara - or Martha or Hippolyta - sacrifices herself," Diana closed her eyes briefly, thinking of the women she had lost during the Amazon War, "I will mourn them as I have mourned no one else. But I will be proud that I raised three women strong enough to make the warrior’s choice to do so."  
  
"I…So would I." Clark’s hand brushed the S on the statue and added softly, "I _am._ "  
  
"Lara doesn’t know that."  
  
"I …need to tell her that, then," Clark turned and smiled softly. "You know, this whole parenting thing would have been much easier for you without me."  
  
"Yes," Diana agreed, kissing his cheek gently. "But I picked you because I knew you would teach strength and independence to our daughters, and gentleness and compassion to any sons we might have had. You haven’t disappointed me."  
  
"Not yet, anyway." Clark embraced her in a hug and murmured a gentle thank you before flying away.  
  
Diana watched him head to New York until he faded from sight, and wondered if this would be easier on him with the next two daughters’ turns came.  
  
  
  
**Title:** To Learn What They Must  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Pairings:** Clark/Diana, Clark/Bruce. Some Dick/Roy and Tim/Kon implied  
**Prompt:** 12\. legato (Italian: past participle of legare, to bind, tie together) _in a smooth, even style without any noticeable break between the notes_ ~slipping away@ [](http://18coda.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://18coda.livejournal.com/)**18coda**  
**Summary:** Domesticity and Clark collide again. He does a little better this time.  
  


_"Men are the worriers. It is difficult for them  
_ _To learn what they must learn." First Lesson, Phyllis McGinley_

He’d been through this twice before, with the two oldest. When Lara’s turn had come, it had involved a lot of shouting and throwing of objects across the skies above Dick’s Grayson apartment before Clark could completely get used to the idea of fathering a "Supergirl." When Martha’s time had come, a year of the silent treatment had followed it, as "Artemis" had a hard time forgiving her father for being as stubborn as she was.

When the time came for Clark and Diana’s youngest to follow her sisters' and parents’ footsteps, Lara and Martha were both on speaking terms with their father, and were, in fact, in the living room of the Manor when the news report revealing their sister’s decision aired.

Clark heard, more than saw, the three heads turn towards him as he watched Polly on the screen. He knew they were all waiting for a reaction, to see if he would be as "irrational" the third time around as he had been with the first two.

There’d been no shouting matches and no silent treatment from Polly. There hadn’t even been an announcement. Yet there she was, fighting alongside a Wilson and a Robin, like the two Wonder Girls before her.

Unlike Donna or Cassie, however, the outfit Polly wore included a red cape that flew behind her.

Clark remained on the sofa next to Bruce. He didn’t lift up and fly away as fast as he could towards his youngest. No matter how much he wanted to. Instead, he remarked as nonchalantly as possible, "Lili Drake is certainly growing up, isn’t she?"

He heard the three people in the room let out the breaths they had been holding.

"Diana will be proud of you," Bruce remarked. The wrinkled human hand wrapped around the Kryptonian one. "And so am I."

Clark nodded silently, eyes never leaving the television, as he watched the last of his children begin the process of leaving the nest.

 

 

 **Title:** For a While, Will Not Return  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Pairings:** Clark/Diana, Clark/Bruce.  
**Prompt:** 15\. senza (Italian: without) _without_ ~I'm lost without; can't do without **@** [](http://18coda.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://18coda.livejournal.com/)**18coda**  
**Summary:** Clark's family loses someone dear.

  
_"How you have a journey to take and very likely,  
_ _For a while, will not return." First Lesson, Phyllis McGinley_

Since the day he realized he was in love with Bruce Wayne, Clark knew it was just a matter of time before time and old age came along and stole Bruce away. With each day that passed, Clark knew that day was drawing nearer, and the wrinkles and ailments that continually laid siege to his mate's body offered daily reminders, in case he should ever be so foolish as to forget.

In the days that ticked away as Clark waited for that day, others who he held dear were lost. Together, he and Bruce buried Alfred, both Ma and Pa, two Green Lanterns, and Barry Allen's grandson. Though each death was painful, Clark was thankful that he had both Bruce and Diana to lean on, as well as the family they'd built together.

In all the time Clark spent aching for the inevitable loss of his mate, he never dreamed he'd have to bury the mother of his children first.

They lost Diana the way she would have wanted, as a warrior and a hero. Wonder Woman died victoriously and proudly, giving her life to save others. Her death was mourned, and her life celebrated, world wide.

This did nothing to alleviate the grief Clark felt, and the anger he felt that she had been taken from them. The pain of losing Diana was enough to make Clark want to stay in the Manor and grieve with his partner... but the children came first.

Polly's sobs were the hardest, telling him she needed him most.

She came to his arms willingly. With her face buried in her father's chest, broken sobs poured from Diana's youngest daughter. Clark held her tightly, feeling the same sense of helplessness that he always had felt with his daughters. He'd always needed Diana's help with them so much.... and god, it hurt so much to think that he would never have that help ever again.

"I wasn't supposed to have to bury her," Polly protested, hours later when the sobs had stopped but the tears hadn't. "She was an Amazon. A goddess, once. Wonder Woman is supposed to be _immortal._ "

Yes, Clark agreed. She was. "Your mother went into every battle knowing that wasn't true," Clark said gently, brushing his daughter's hair away from where snot and tears had caused it to stick to her face. "Just as the rest of us do."

"But the world needs a Wonder Woman," Polly said fiercely. "What ... what is going to do without one?"

Clark closed his eyes, wished Diana was there to answer the question instead, wished that he didn't have to give the answer Polly needed to hear, and wondered not for the first time how Ma and Pa had ever had the strength to do this for him when they'd needed to. They'd made it look so easy. "I guess the world will need another one to take her place, Wonder Girl," he said slowly. "So that the world never forgets all the good she stood for."

There was a long pause, as his daughter struggled not to begin crying anew. But his tiny Amazon pulled free from his grip and wiped the tears away. She waited until her face was dry before she promised, "I'll keep the cape."

 

 **Title:** When Death No Longer Makes You Weep  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Pairings:** Clark/Bruce.  
**Prompt:** 4\. dolce (Italian: sweet) _Sweet or sweetly_ **@** [](http://18coda.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://18coda.livejournal.com/)**18coda**  
**Summary:** At the end of a long life together, Bruce and Clark relax alone.

_"When you are old and full of sleep_  
And death no longer makes you weep  
When your body aches with cold  
I'll warm your heart when you are old." _\- "When You Are Old," Martina McBride_

 

Clark has had a lot of reasons, over the years, to be grateful for being impervious to heat or cold. But never had he been more thankful than on the celebration of Bruce's eightieth birthday. They spent the day buried in blankets on Bruce's bed, taking calls from all the loved ones that couldn't move themselves, and receiving visits from the ones that still could. More than one visitor raised an eye brow at the six blankets in the middle of a Gotham summer, but Superman glared at them sternly and they dared not voice their thoughts.

Kara brought by Bruce's favorite wine, flown in from an entirely too expensive shop in Italy. Martha brought by a desert from Paris, that "is gooey enough to eat without your teeth!"

Lara promised to put flowers on Dick's grave for them both. Clark was grateful to his oldest for that, despite knowing that before the day was over, Bruce would insist on visiting his oldest son's grave himself.

As the day drew on, the visits became less frequent, and Bruce slowly worked his way through the wine and the dessert. The television remained on out of habit, and Clark was able to relax as he watched his youngest guard Metropolis, allowing them the peacefulness of not being disturbed during their celebration. Her gift may have been the best any of their loved ones had bestowed upon them.

"Share your thoughts with the class, Kent?"

Clark wiped a bit of chocolate off Bruce's lip. Licking the finger clean, he remarked simply, "I was just thinking how miraculous it is that the daughter Diana fought with most is the one carrying on her legacy. Had anyone told us during those mother-daughter fights that the daughter Diana always claimed was the most like me would be wearing the Wonder Woman costume, I don't think any of us would have believed it."

Bruce snorted in the indignant and undignified way old age allowed him the right to. "Speak for yourself. It was obvious to me from the first fight they had."

"Is this the part where you remind me about the cost of the windows you had to replace during that fight?"

"One hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars," Bruce said on cue. "With that kind of property damage, she was either going to go on to be a supervillain or Wonder Woman. Wasn't much choice in it."

"You know, I'm glad you really didn't share this back then."

"Didn't think you would have appreciated it," Bruce grumbled, hands shaking as he scooped up the last of his cake. "Mostly because you were still in overprotective father mode. Glad you grew out of that nonsense."

Clark didn't remind Bruce that he had been every bit as protective. "I'm proud of all of my children," he answered. "And Diana couldn't have asked for a better person to carry on her name."

"Hnn." Bruce pushed his tray away and leaned back in the bed. "I like her cape."


End file.
